HRANI takes up the issue of Non-Issuance of Commercial Airport Entry Permits ( T- Pass) with Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Civil Aviation

A delegation led by Mr. Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President HRANI comprising of Members of Managing Committee Mr. Vinod Gulati, Mr. Vineet Taing, Mr Amit Jain along with Mrs Renu Thapliyal, Secretary General, HRANI including Mr. Bhupinder Singh, Airport Operations Manager, JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity & Mr Pawan Khatri from Hilton Group met Sh. Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, New Delhi to discuss the concern of 4 star and above hotels on new AEP guidelines 2019 by BCAS under Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt of India.

The delegation apprised the Union Secretary Tourism that The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) under Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has unveiled the new Airport Entry Permit (AEP) guidelines 2019 on August 2, 2019 wherein as per para 9.7 of said guidelines, the issuance /re-issuance of the commercial Airport Entry Permits have been abolished. As a result all commercial AEP issuance / re-issuance has been stopped.

The Commercial AEP Terminal Pass (T-pass) is issued to 4 star and above hotels on chargeable basis which gives access to Terminal Building other than Security Hold, Customs and immigration but include baggage claim area of Domestic terminal.

The issuance / re-issuance of commercial AEP is not a security concern as the hotels follow the strict SOP to obtain the Commercial AEP from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) which comprises BCAS Verification and AVSEC Certification including Approval / Classification from Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and certification of FHRAI and its four regional associations. After clearance by the AEP committee which includes officials from AAI, BCAS and CISF, the commercial AEP is finally issued.

Mr. Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, President, HRANI submitted the Secretary Tourism that abolishing issuance of commercial AEPs is highly arbitrary and not a industry centric decision. It will result in draconian consequences such as Security Risk for Tourist, Increase in Touts and will also affect livelihood of many people in travel trade. It will also lead to substantial lay-offs and job terminations across the hotels on PAN India level, there by further deteriorating the already worsened unemployment situation in our country. This new practice will also hurt tourism to a certain extent.

A detailed representation was submitted to the Secretary Tourism. The delegation requested him to take up the matter with Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). Sh. Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary Tourism gave a patient and positive hearing to the delegation.

The representation has also been sent to Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) by the Association.